Indiscretion: Callie Douglas - Book Four

Chapter Seventeen

"Hi, I'm Dr. Callie Douglas", I said, shaking the hand of my first patient of the day.

"Hi. I'm Reginald Hoffman."

"It's nice to meet you, Reginald."

"Please, call me Reg. If you call me Reginald, I think it's my mother calling me. And that would be scary, since she died four years ago."

I laughed. "Okay, Reg, how may I help you today?"

"I'm preparing to run the Boston Marathon."

"Congratulations. That's a big race. Are you training a lot?"

"I am."

"What are your goals in running the race?"

"I hope to finish it. I know a lot of people would be saying that they want to place in the top five percent or something like that, but this is the first big race that I'll have run, and all I want to do is finish it. That's my goal."

"That sounds like a good goal, and is one that's achievable. How may I help you with that?"

"I'm anxious about running the race, and I've heard that psychiatrists and psychologists can help you mentally prepare for big races."

"Why are you anxious about the race?"

"I haven't done anything this big before, so I'm not sure if I can do it. I really want to, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it."

"It sounds like you are engaging in the 'what ifs'. What if I can't finish the race? What if I get too tired? The 'what ifs' will be your downfall."

"I guess I am. I never really thought about it before."

"I would recommend two things. The first you can do while you're resting, and the second you can do when you're running. First, the one that you can do when you're resting. I'm sure you've heard of visualization before. It will be important to think positively. Instead of thinking about the 'what ifs', visualize what it will be like when you cross that finish line. How will you feel? What will you be thinking? How fast will your breath be coming? How will your muscles feel?"

"I daydream about that a little bit now."

"That's good. When you do so, you need to add in as many details as possible. One patient I had was a swimmer, and she would visualize everything about the race before she even got to the starting blocks. The feel of the grit on the starting block. The sound of the gun going off. The feel of her body hitting the water as she dove in. The feel of her muscles working as she moved through the water. Her breath as she pushed herself further and harder. The feel of her body contracting as it worked through the flip turn and she pushed off the wall. The feel of the wall as she finished the race. She would envision all that before she got on the blocks and again, when she was on the blocks waiting for the gun to go off. By the time the race started she had already swum it in her mind and her body knew just what to do. Visualization is important."

"I think I can do that."

"I'll ask you to lead me through the race, but before we start to visualize your race I would like you to relax. To do this, I want you to take five deep breaths, inhaling through your nose on the count of five and exhaling through your mouth on the count of five. The breaths should be deep breaths using your diaphragm. If you are relaxed, you will be more able to concentrate on visualizing the race." I waited until he did his relaxation breathing. "Now, how about you lead me through your race?"

"First, I guess there is waiting with everyone else for the gun to go off."

"What will the temperature be? What will the weather be like? What time of the day will it be? What will you be wearing? Who will be around you? How will your muscles feel? What will be the feeling in the pit of your stomach? How will you be feeling emotionally? These are all questions that you need to be able to answer. It doesn't matter if they are necessarily right. There will be some things that you won't be able to answer. There's no way that you'll be able to answer what the weather will be like, or what temperature it will be. However, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you're visualizing your success. So lead me through this. What will you be wearing?"